Monday, January 14, 2008

Dim Sum at Chu Shing - December 28

(Edit: Christine's input is in purple)

Because we had some relatives come over from Hong Kong, we ate at restaurants every other day. I guess it was because no one wants to wash dishes after 20+ people have finished eating. To keep with this trend, we went out for some dim sum at Chu Shing.

We ordered one of my all-time favourites: steamed rice rolls. We had both the shrimp and the beef ones. These were fantastic, since they just came out of the kitchen. (They add chestnuts though, so just a heads up. Ugh.) Oh, I should probably mention that we sat at the first table beside the kitchen doors. It might be unfavourable in any other restaurant, but for dim sum, fresh food is imperative. If the carts have been around too long, the food tends to taste gross when it cools.

We also ordered turnip cakes. Pretty standard.

I don’t know the name of these little things. They’re deep fried, and filled with minced meat pork. The outside is made of glutinous rice dough. With a bit of soy sauce and a dab of Sriracha, it’s heavenly. I think we had these twice. Ever since my last trip to Toronto, I've tried to always order these. The filling is a bit salty but the sticky glutinous rice dough is sweet. I just love the contrast. My mom didn't like it because it was too sweet for her, so I suggested that she dipped it in some soy sauce. She dipped her piece in the soy sauce and then commented that it was a bit better, but that she could make it at home. All I'd need then is a good dipping sauce. Does anyone know what soy sauce Yangtze and Chu Shing use? Please email me, I'd greatly appreciate it.
Deep fried shrimp balls. Yummy. In my opinion, Yangtze still makes the best. They add chestnuts to the shrimp balls here. Ugh.

I think these were braised tendons and liver (or some other organ meat). I didn’t eat any, so I can’t comment. The chicken feet in the background were very good, judging by the pile of bones in the aftermath. Since my, ahem, incident with chicken feet, I have steered clear of these.

Here’s an ankle piece from the chicken feet dish. It’s easier to eat because you don’t have to deal with the phalanges. I don't like eating the feet, so I stick to the ankles. They are easier to eat and you don't have to worry about your mouth or tounge being poked at, to put it nicely.

Deep fried taro dumplings are also one of my many dim sum favourites. They’re filled with minced mystery meat.

The food this time was much better than we’ve had in a while at Chu Shing. The fact that we were the first table served by the carts made a huge difference in the quality of the food.

2 comments:

Doesn't it just make you sad to see how cheap the dim sum is in other cities? We actually never ordered turnip cakes until Jimmy declared they were his childhood favourite. I'm glad to hear that he's not the only one!